Automatic sight-feed graphite lubricator.



A. KIRCHHOFER.

AUTOMATIC SIGHT FEED GRAPHITE LUBRICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 1, I9I4.

1 1 4:5, 3 1 8. Patented July 6, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l- INVENTOR WITNESSES 7 I ATTORNEY A, KIRCHHOFER. AUTOMATIC SIGHT FEED GRAPHITE LUBRICATO'R.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 1, 1914- Patented July 6,- 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIGE.

AUGUST KIRCHHOFER, OF NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO THOMAS A. CLARKSON, OFNASHVILLE, TENNESSEE.

AUTOMATIC SIGHT-FEED GRAPHITE LUBRICATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 6, 19 15 Application filed June 1, 1914. Serial No. 842,184.

To all whom it may concern! Be it known that 1, AUGUST KIRGHHOFER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Nashville, in the county of Davidson and State of Tennessee, have invented a new and, useful Automatic Sight-Feed Graphite Lubricator, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in graphite lubricators.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of* graphite lubricators and to provide a simple, practical, and eflic'ient graphite lubricator, of compact and inexpensive construction, designed for use on modern high s eed locomotives and various other types of'steam engines, as well as internal combustion engines, and capable of automatically operating in unison with the engine through fluid pressure andadapted to be readily adjusted to control the feed of the' graphite.

A further object of the invention is to provide a graphite lubricator adapted to automatically vary the feeding of the lubricant with the speed of an engine, so that when a locomotive or other engine is operating at'high speed,it will receive a maximum amount of lubrication, and a less quantity of the lubricant will be-fed to the same when the engine istraveling at a'lower speed.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists in the construction and novel combination of parts hereinafter fully I described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out .in the claims hereto appended, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportion,

size and minordetails of construction, witha in the scope of the,clai n s, may be resorted. to without departing from the spirit or verse'sectional view 'of the graphite lubri cator. Fig. 4 is a central longitudinal sectional view of a graphite lubricator showing another form of the invention. I

' Like numerals of reference designate co responding parts in all the figures of the drawings. 4 I r In the drawings, in which is illustrated the preferred embodiment of the invention,-

the graphite lubricator comprises in its construction a cylinder 1 preferably consisting of a casting and provided with a central vertical integral magazine 2 for the recept1on of graphite 3. The graphite?) is preferthe magazine, which is of circular or cylindrical shape." The lubricant fits loosely within .the cylindrical magazine, which is cap 5, which forms an extension of the magazine or receptacle, is interiorly threaded at its lowerend at 6 to engage the threads of the magazine 2 and it is also provided above-the threaded portion 6 with a shoulder 7 between which and the upper end of the magazine is interposed a gasket 8. The gasket 8, 'which'is'adapted to provlde a steam tight joint between the cap and the magazine, also serves as a guide for a weight 9, which is adapted to feed the graphite downwardly as the same is consumed. Theshoulder 7 of the cap 5 is spaced from the threaded portion 6, a groove 10 being preferably formed between the shoulder and the threaded portion. The gasket 8 extends into the cap beyond the inner walls of the magazine and is provided with an opening of a size to guide and center the weight, and it has perforations 11 at an intermediatepoint between the weight andthe walls of, the cap to admit fiuid'pressure above the gasket. The Wei ht, which rests upon the stack or pile o graphite blocks or cylinders, is preferably of cylindrical form and has an enlarged half-round head 12 at its upper end. The cap, which is of substantially cylindrical form, is preferably provided with a rounded top and its lower end, which is enlarged, has a polygonal wrench receiving exterior to enable'it' to be readily screwed on and ofl" the threaded upper end of the magazine. v

The cylinder 1, which is horizontally disposed, receives opposite piston heads 13serod 14, which is provided with an intermediate threaded portion 15 against which the ably in'the form of cylinders, and the latter. are arranged in a vertical position within' r cured to the terminal portions of a pistonlower portion of the cylinder in fine powdered form, but instead of threading the central graphite engaging portion of the piston rod, the latter may be provided with any other suitable means 'for removing finely divided lubricating particles from the solid cylinders or blocks of graphite. The piston heads 13, which may be of any preferred construction, are secured to the ends of the piston rod in any suitable manner. The ends of the horizontal cylinder 1 are provided with interior screw threads 16' into which are screwed the cylinder heads or ends 17 having reduced threaded portions 18 which engage the interior threads of the cylinder 1. The reduction of the inner threaded portions 18 of the heads or ends 17 of the cylinder forms annular shoulders 19,

' which engage the end edges or faces of the cylinder 1. The cylinder heads or ends are provided with central threaded bores or openings 20 for the reception of screws 21 adapted to project interiorly of the cylinder 1 for limiting the strokeof the piston heads and the consequent feeding of the graphite by the lubricator. The ends or heads 17 are provided at the outer ends of the bores or openings 20 with exterior enlargements 22 and have central recesses 23 at the inner ends of the said bores or openings. The heads 24 ofscrews which secure the piston heads 13 to the ends of the piston rod 14 are adapted to extend into the central recesses 23 and engage with the inner ends of the.

adjusting screws 21 when the latter are adjuste'd to a projecting position. The adjusting screws 21 are equipped with jam or lock nuts 25, which engage the exterior enlargements and secure the screws 21 in their adj ustment.

The cylinder is provided with a central depending exteriorly threaded nipple 26 which is designed to be screwed into a threaded opening of the steam chest of a locomotive or other engine for feeding the graphite lubricant to the same. The cylinder is also provided adjacent to its ends with interiorly threaded flanges 27 surrounding port openings 28 and adapted to be connected by suitable pipeconnections with the end portions of the steam cylinder of an engine (not shown), so that when steam is admitted to one end of such steam cylinder, it will.

also be admitted to the corresponding end of the cylinder 1 and will operate to move; the piston rod and the piston heads toward,

the other end of the cylinder 1. WVhen the steam is fed to the other end of the engine cylinder, it will be simultaneously admitted to the corresponding end of the cylinder 1 and will operate to reciprocate the piston 14, which, by being actuated, by the fluid pressure of an engine, automatically operone of the piston heads 13 counter-balances that acting against the inner face of the other piston head, so that the steam pressure admitted to the central portion of the cylinder 1 and the magazine does not affect the operation of the graphite feeding means. The cylinder 1 is provided below the opposite Walls of the magazine with vertical webs 29 having perforations 30 dividing the cylinder 1 into end piston head receiving chamber and a central lubricant space or compartment. The webs 29 are also provided with alined central openings 31, through which the horizontal piston rod 14 passes. The central portion of the cylinder is beveled or flared at 32 for directing the falling lubricant into the nipple.

The lubricator is provided at opposite sides with sight openings formed by laterally extending horizontally disposed tubular portions 33, located at the top of and formed integral with the cylinder 1. The openings of the tubular projecting portions 33 are located above the plane of the compartments of the cylinder '1 and are arranged in alinement, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawings. Glasses 34". consisting of plates or disks, are secured over the ends of the tubular portions 33 by caps 35- having apertures 36 registering with the openings of the said tubular portions 33. The caps 35 are interiorly threaded at 37 to engage exterior threads 38 of the tubular portions 33. The-sight openings expose the graphite and enable the feed or consumption of the same to be'readily seen. opposite sight openings are of less diameter than the cylinders of graphite, so that there 'is 'no liability of-the graphite accidentally 41 and 42 connected by a piston rod having a centrally threaded portion for scraping the graphite. The cylinder is provided with a central exteriorly threaded nipple :13 to screw into the steam chest, and it is provided at one end with aport opening 44 surrounded by a depending interiorly threaded annular flange 45, adapted to receive' pipe connections for connecting the The uremia "smaller end- 40 of the cylinder of the lu- ..:bricator is provided Witha port opening =or vent 46 communicating with the outside atmosphere to prevent any back pressure from interfering with the outward movement of the smaller piston head? 42. The inner facesof the differential piston heads are subject to constant pressure, and the pressure on the surface of the larger piston head 41 will operate to force the piston in the direction of the end of the cylinder having the port openingi l whenthe steam is exhausted at that point. When,

however, steam is admitted to this end of the cylinder, the pressure on the outer-end of the larger piston head 41 will operate to move the same inwardly and reciprocate the piston rod toward the outer end of the smaller portion 40 of the cylinder of the lubricator. In this manner the lubricator having the differential piston heads is automatically operated by fluid pressure, and in unison with the engine with which it is connected. When the lubricator is applied to an internal combustion engine, it is connected with the pipe between the carbureter and the'cylinders.-

The tendency at the present period among railroads generally ,and other users of steam,

is toward higher pressure, and often superheated steam and .the use of oil as a lllbl'l'. cant is not entirely satisfactory in all cases. Flaked graphite has long been known as a superior lubricant, having the peculiar quality of being adapted to be forced into the superficies of cylinders and valves of steam engines and pumps, due to the motion of the moving parts, imparting or giving off a highly finished surface, thus reducing the friction and lessening the consumption of oil. While graphite possesses. high lubricating qualities, it is not advisable to use it alone, and it is deemed to be a good practice to use in connection with a graphite lubricator either an oil pump or a s ght feed lubricator, as are now in use. -When. graphite and oil are employed, it is only necessary to feed about one-third as much oil as when no graphite is used. Another valuable feature of graphite is that it fills'up the crevices and interstices of the packings, and with it, stufling boxes need not be kept so tight, and the friction of the rods and valve stems is lessened and at the same time, the durability of the packing is considerably increased.

What is claimed is 1. A lubricator of the class described comprising a cylinder, a receptacle adapted to hold a mass of lubricant in the form of a solid, said receptacle having an opening connected with the cylinder,.and a piston'operating in the cylinder and adapted to be actuated by the fluid pressure of an engine,

said piston having a stem or rod reciproeating at the opening of the receptacle and provided with means for removing from the said solid finely divided lubricating particles.

2. A lubricator of the class described comprising a cylinder, a receptacle connected with the cylinder and adapted to hold a. mass of lubricant in the form of a solid, spaced piston heads located in the cylinder at opposite sides of the receptacle and adapted to be actuated by the fluid pressure of an 1 engine, and means located between and reciprocated by the piston heads for re-v moving finely divided lubricating particles from the solid mass of lubricant.

3. A lubricator of the class described inadapted to hold a mass of lubricant in the form of a solid, and a piston operating within the cylinder and including spaced piston heads anda connecting piston rod having means for removing from the solid mass of lubricant finely divided lubricating particles.

5. A lubricator of the class described including a cylinder provided at a point intermediate of its ends with a magazine adapted to hold a mass of lubricant in the form of a solid, and a piston operating within the cylinder and including spaced piston heads and a connecting piston rod having a roughened surface arranged to remove finely divided lubricating particles from the solid mass of lubricant.

6. A lubricator of the class described including a cylinder provided at a point intermediate of its ends with a magazine and having sight openings located at opposite sides thereof, and a piston operating within the cylinder and including spaced piston heads and a'connecting piston rod having a roughened surface for removing finely divided particles of lubricant from a solid mass 'of lubricant contained in the said magazine.

7. A lubricator of the class described including a cylinder provided at a point .intermediate of its ends with a magazine for holding a solid mass of lubricant, said cylinder being also provided at its ends with ated by fluid pressure and" to operate in unison with an engine, said piston comprising spaced piston heads and a connecting piston rod carrying means for removing finely divided lubricating particles from the solid mass of lubricant. v

; 8. A lubricator' of the class described mcluding' a cylinder having an outlet designed to be connected with an engine and.

-Webs, said piston rod carrying a roughened surface adapted to remove from the solid mass of lubricant'finely divided lubricating particles.

--9. A lubricatorof the class described including a cylinder provided at a point intermediate of its ens With an outlet de signedto be connected with'anengine, said cylinder being also provided With end ports, and a piston operating Within the cylinder and including spaced .piston heads and a connecting piston rod carrying means for removing from a solid mass of lubricant finely divided lubricating particles, said piston being adapted to be actuated by fluid pressuresq as-to operate in unison with an In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixed my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

AUGUST KIROHHOFER.

' Witnesses:

H. K. ADAMS, Q. B. HARPER. 

